The China Mail - Falcons hand 49ers first defeat of NFL season

San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy was intercepted twice, George Kittle and Kaelon Black gave up fumbles and a thigh injury to Christian McCaffrey further hindered the 49ers' depleted receiving corps.

Atlanta's rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels intercepted a Purdy pass intended for Jordan Watkins with 2:34 remaining and recovered Kittle's fumble with less than a minute to go to secure their first home win of the season and improve to 3-4.

"Those guys showed up in big-time moments for us," Penix said of the Falcons defense.

"It was all complementary football," Penix said. "Offense, defense, special teams, everybody played well today."

Penix connected with tight end Nick Muse for a touchdown to keep the Falcons within striking distance in the first half and hit Kyle Pitts for a TD that put Atlanta ahead in the third quarter.

He found Drake London with a 21-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter as Atlanta seized control.

McCaffrey had capped a 10-play, 64-yard opening drive with a one-yard touchdown leap on fourth down to give San Francisco a quick 7-0 lead.

But he missed much of the first half with a thigh injury and despite his return in the second half the 49ers couldn't come back.

Purdy's apparent 23-yard touchdown pass to Watkins was overturned after a lengthy review. He hit Kyle Juszczyk with a one-yard scoring pass with 5:05 remaining.

But the 49ers' next drive ended with Purdy's second interception, setting up Nick Folk's third field goal of the game for Atlanta.

While the 49ers fell to 6-1, the Minnesota Vikings remained unbeaten, holding the Indianapolis Colts scoreless in the second half in a 16-10 victory that saw them improve to 6-0.

Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray threw a five-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Hockenson early in the fourth quarter and Will Reichard kicked a 52-yard field goal with 1:39 remaining.

Minnesota's Harrison Smith picked off Colts quarterback Daniel Jones in the final minute to preserve the win. It was the 40th career interception for the 15-year veteran.

The Vikings remained as one of two unbeaten teams. The Kansas City Chiefs were seeking to improve to 6-0 when they took on the Super Bowl champion Seahawks in Seattle.

- Gutsy Steelers win -

Sunday's action kicked off in Paris, where Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for 212 yards and a milestone touchdown to lead the Steelers to a 16-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints in the league's first regular-season game in the French capital.

Rodgers hit Darnell Washington with a four-yard TD pass to give the Steelers a 10-3 lead late in the second quarter, his 540th regular-season touchdown pass moving him into solo third place on the all-time list ahead of Peyton Manning (539).

The 42-year-old future Hall-of-Famer also scrambled for a first down to keep Pittsburgh's game-sealing drive alive.

"I thought our defense obviously played great," Rodgers said. "It's hard to win in this league. We traveled over on Thursday night, Friday. Guys were tired, so it was a gutsy win for us."

In Houston, Devin Singletary ran 30 yards for a touchdown in overtime to lift the New York Giants to a 27-21 win over the Texans.

Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow threw four touchdown passes in the second half and the Bengals rallied to beat the Ravens 35-13 in Baltimore.

Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson piloted his fifth fourth-quarter game-winning drive of the season, capped by Andre Szmyt's 32-yard field goal as time expired in the Browns' 27-24 victory over the Tennessee Titans in Nashville.

S.Davis--ThChM